The Witcher - Preview @ Joystiq

Joystiq has a second item of interest today - a short preview of The Witcher from PAX:

The Witcher is suppose to have a massive 120 hours of gameplay (counting sidequests and optional content) and will feature a storyline that continues to change and adapt as you play through as well as multiple different endings. It's kind of a sleeper title and coming out during this holiday season won't make things any easier on it, but if action RPGs with a satisfying combat system and a mature storyline are your thing, The Witcher is going to be your ultimate Christmas present.

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More information.

I love the idea of The Witcher. I love the concept of choice & consequence, which seems to be the buzzword for hardcore roleplayers these days. I love the idea that I could play through the game 3 times, and each time, have a different experience. I want to see different areas, meet different characters, and have different endings.

But I really, really hope they do something about the action combat. That's something that the Summoner game got right. They had a very console-ish fighting style, with lots of special moves you could learn. But you could also do this thing called "auto-chaining" and it would rely on your character's level and dexterity to pull off the moves by itself. I very much hope The Witcher has something similar. I want the character's skills -- not my itchy trigger finger -- to determine if he succeeds or not. Also, I suck at console-ish gaming. Having options for players like me would definitely help me to get into the story and dialogues.

I was surprised to hear them refer to it as an action rpg. I think other descriptions of the combat have said it would be more like what you're describing than just a complicated clickfest, but we won't know til we get to see some combat, like maybe in a demo? I keep hoping, anyway.

aboyd
"Summoner game got right. They had a very console-ish fighting style, with lots of special moves you could learn. But you could also do this thing called "auto-chaining"

That's a very good idea, damn good.
It could single handedly meld the hardcore RPGers whom aren't interested in twitch with the casual RPGers.

Yep, Summoner was a good game. I was always P****d that Summoner 2 was Console only!!

I think the combat sounds very much like Summoner, so if you liked that, why are you hesitant about the Witcher (Summoner was underrated, btw - nice game).

Summoner was a very nice surprise when I grabbed it last year, very nice. It would not be bad if the Witcher used some combat stuff from that.

Yeah, I was a bit peeved by the "action RPG through and through" comment in the Joystiq piece, but it's pretty hard to get all the story and RPG elements through in a short demo. The combat is essentially like Summoner, but The Witcher doesn't have the auto-chain, as far as I know. I'm no twitch gamer, either, and combat in The Witcher is pretty easy to handle, especially when you're in the top-down/isometric view. It gets a little trickier playing in the over-the-shoulder cam.

120 hours? Wasn't it more around 40-60 in previous interviews? I mean, 120 is the size of BG2, and I haven't seen a game that big since.. well, BG2.

From what I've seen of it, looks pretty good.

When I did a preview back in 2005, they were estimating some 80-100 hours for everything (main quest 30-40 hrs). I haven't really kept track of the length (because I don't really care within reason) but 120 goesn't sound wholly unlikely...that said, it isn't really like BG2, because the main quest is much shorter.

I *think* some of the side quests are things like tracking down rare alchemy ingredients, so not necessary hours and hours of additional hand-crafted content. Maybe Tom can weigh in on this?

Dhruin said:

I think the combat sounds very much like Summoner, so if you liked that, why are you hesitant about the Witcher (Summoner was underrated, btw - nice game).

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I'm hesitant about the Witcher because I'm worried that it won't have auto-chaining or some other way to bypass the "my character is only as good as the combos I can pull off" combat. I wasn't actually holding up The Summoner as great combat, but as a great implementation of a way to bypass what I saw as lame combat. By implementing auto-chaining, I managed to ignore most of the twitch combat in The Summoner. If The Witcher has the same kind of combat but with no system to bypass it, well... that's why I'm hesitant.

Here's a pretty descriptive quote from a newsbit at Gamespy Drhuin posted awhile back:

To avoid combat degenerating into a mere button-masher, Geralt's fighting skills are based on combos triggered by pressing the button at the proper time. Depending on the difficulty the player selects, this timing can be indicated by the cursor flashing, an audio cue or nothing at all. Improper timing will break the combo and afford the enemy a chance to strike at Geralt. The right mouse button will trigger a magic spell. This also breaks a combo chain but will often be necessary to stun opponents or maneuver into a better fighting position.

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I'm with you aboyd, in hoping my twitch skills are up to it. It's that one sentence:
"...this timing can be indicated by the cursor flashing, an audio cue or nothing at all" that worries me.

Still, IMO having a more complex model that requires some effort is less boring than the heavy left-click reliance we see in most games. I'm thinking they're not going to make it so hinky that it keeps people out of the game.

I have a very open mind on this game and will most likely buy it. Twitch combat is not my forte, as my reflexes are quite slow, so hopefully if someone of my years can handle it, everyone will be able to!!

magerette said:

Here's a pretty descriptive quote from a newsbit at Gamespy Drhuin posted awhile back:



I'm with you aboyd, in hoping my twitch skills are up to it. It's that one sentence:
"...this timing can be indicated by the cursor flashing, an audio cue or nothing at all" that worries me.

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If its depending on the difficulty setting, it means you have control over it.

Very true, and fortunately I'm not too proud to play on "Easy".
Difficulty settings is an excellent way to handle it.